


What is Love?

by TwurtleEggy



Series: Ori, but a little to the left [6]
Category: Ori and the Blind Forest
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M, Other, Other? - Freeform, what the french fry would Sein and Ori's relationship category be?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23805208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwurtleEggy/pseuds/TwurtleEggy
Summary: Sein is conflicted on their feelings for one of the forest's residents. The Spirit Tree tries to help them with a story.
Relationships: Sein & Spirit Tree (Ori and the Blind Forest), Sein/Ori (Ori and the Blind Forest), Spirit Tree but before he was a tree/Original Male Character
Series: Ori, but a little to the left [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709002
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	1. Story time

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hey, I wrote a fic without Ori in it!

Sein cared about all of the creatures of Nibel. From Kuro and her kids, far away above the cold of the Forlorn Ruins, to Ginso, whatever the heck they were. There was one creature of Nibel, however, that they cared about more than any other: Ori, savior of both Nibel and Niwen. And yet, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't figure out just how they felt about him. It didn't help them that practically half the forest's population was apparently convinced that they were in love with the Spirit Guardian, and would _not stop teasing them._

They had had enough, to be frank. If they could figure out exactly how they felt about him, it would likely stop the teasing, or at least make it considerably more manageable. As such, they asked the wisest being they knew: the Spirit Tree. Sure, he had a bad habit of acting before thinking, and he was one of the ones teasing them, but that didn't matter to them. They just wanted some peace.

"Sein," he said when they asked, "I say this from the very core of my soul. Not as Ori's father, not as someone you work alongside, and not as the Spirit Tree of Nibel. I say this as someone with experience. From how you act around him, to how you talk to others about him, and much more; all of it makes me certain that, without a doubt, you are in love."

Sein buzzed angrily. "I. Am _not._ In love."

"Oh, but you are, my friend. I see it all in you."

"No. You know what? This was a terrible idea. You're a tree, what would _you_ know about love?"

The Spirit Tree laughed. "I was not always a tree my friend." Oh, right. He had been the Spirit Tree for so long, they had gotten far too used to only knowing him as the Spirit Tree. "And I know plenty of love. After all, I was once in love myself."

"You were?"

"Yes, I was. In fact, I suppose that, in a way, I still am. I may not have seen the one I loved in hundreds of years, but my fondness has not grown weaker."

Sein considered this for a moment, wondering what to say. "Could you... tell me about them?" Though Sein had been working with the Spirit Tree for hundreds of years now, they still knew little of his past.

"Hmmm... I suppose it couldn't hurt."

* * *

"My story begins in a land far from here, known as Niles. Though it has many forests like Nibel, that is where the similarities largely end. Niles has next to no mountainous areas, and is much more abundant in water. It is also much hotter than it is here in Nibel. My life there was relatively simple; I worked as a fisher, a common profession with our aforementioned overabundance of water. I woke up, had breakfast, did my job, then went home to have dinner and sleep."

Sein tilted themself slightly. "That sounds... really boring."

"Perhaps, but I enjoyed the boredom. It was predictable; I knew what would happen, and how it would happen. Things were stable, and I was safe. Then, one day, Niles received a few special visitors. They were all foreign Spirit Guardians, sent to Niles by various Spirit Trees for some sort of... peace conference, I believe it was. And among the spirits that came to my homeland was one named Popel."

"Popel hailed from the land of Meril, a very, very cold place. He and the other Meril spirits had been unprepared for the heat of Niles-their fur was thick, well suited for the chill of Meril, but quite disastrous for them when in Niles' heat. As such, when the peace conference would end for the day, they would often either stay inside, underground, or in lakes and rivers. A few days into their visit, Popel split off from the rest of his fellows, wanting to find somewhere he could cool down alone. Instead, he found me. I was deep in the forest, at a river I often fished at, and Popel happened to arrive just as I was about to leave. Neither of us had been expecting to meet anyone else there, and we ended up striking up a conversation."

"About what?"

"Mostly just about living in Niles. Since Popel had only arrived a few days earlier, he was curious about what sorts of lives the spirits in Niles lived. The sun eventually went down, and Popel had to go back to the center of Niles, where all the visiting spirits were being housed. He still had plenty of questions, however, and I wanted to learn about Meril, so we agreed to meet again the next day. The next day came and went, and we still had questions for each other, so we agreed to meet up again. Then, again, and again, and again. Eventually, we didn't even need to agree to meet; Popel would simply arrive each day at about the same time, and we would talk."

"At first, it was just friendship, at least for me. I was curious about the foreign spirit's home, and he was curious about mine. And there was plenty to tell each other about; our cultures, our environments, our foods. Eventually, the conference had been going on for almost two full weeks, and was entering its final stages. It was more important than ever before that the visiting spirits be present, in order to ensure that there was nothing overlooked. And yet, on the first day of these final discussions, when I was honestly running out of things I could tell Popel about Niles, he told me he was considering not attending the last few meetings."

"Wait, seriously? He was planning to just up and ditch _the whole reason he was there?"_

The Spirit Tree let out a bellowing laugh. "I reacted the same way! When I asked him why he would possibly consider doing that, he told me that it was because he wanted to spend more time with me. He said that, honestly, ever since the second time we had met up, he hadn't really wanted to hear about Niles; he wanted to hear about _me._ I, of course, told him that I wouldn't tell him anything unless he went to the meetings, and that if he didn't, I would flat out stop talking to him." Another laugh, though this one was much softer. "You should have seen his face. He looked like I had just threatened to end the world."

"Well, did he go to the meetings?"

"Patience, Sein. I also had one other ultimatum for him: if he wanted to know anything about me, I first wanted to know why he specifically had been sent to Niles. You see, though I was aware of the peace conference-every spirit in Niles was-I did not know what kind of spirits had been sent by the various Spirit Trees. At that time, all I truly knew of Popel was that he was from Meril, and that he had been chosen to come to the peace conference for some reason."

"Now, to answer your question, yes he did go to the meetings. He also fulfilled my other ultimatum." His voice became a bit softer, and Sein noticed his light dim just the tiniest bit. "Popel had a strong light. A very, very strong light. As such, once he was old enough, he was chosen as a possible candidate to be the next Spirit Tree of Meril. He was brought before the Spirit Tree of the time along with all the other candidates, and they were all judged by the Spirit Tree." His voice became even softer, and Sein could hear the sadness in his voice. "Among all those that were judged as being worthy of becoming the next Spirit Tree, Popel's light was strongest. And it was decided that he would be the next Spirit Tree of Meril. He had been sent to Niles as a show of faith in the success of the peace conference."

There was something about this particular part of the story eating at Sein, and as the Spirit Tree finished, they realized what it was. "Didn't he have a choice?"

"No," he sighed. "In Meril, spirits have no choice in whether they are willing to become the next Spirit Tree. In fact, it had been that way for so long that most of the populace apparently wasn't bothered by it. It was simply a part of their culture."

"That's horrible!"

"I know, and I did then. I asked Popel if he truly wanted to be the next Spirit Tree, and he said he wasn't sure. He said that, for the longest time since being chosen, he hadn't really considered his own wants when it came to him becoming the next Spirit Tree. He had simply accepted that it would happen, and that it was what was best for Meril."

"What made him doubt that?"

"Meeting me." The Spirit Tree was silent for a moment, and Sein had a feeling he was thinking back to the time he had spent with Popel. "He said that, meeting me had made him realize just how much he would lose when he became the Spirit Tree. I asked him why meeting me would make him realize that, and he said that it was because he wanted to visit me again, which he couldn't do if he was rooted to one spot. When I asked him why in the world he would care so much about visiting me in particular, he told me that it was because he... liked me. Romantically."

"I was... shocked, at first. I had still thought that he only really viewed me as a friend, and romance had never been something I particularly focused on, so having a romantic relationship with him had never even crossed my mind. I think my face must have given away my thoughts, since he immediately started going on and on about how he was sorry for bringing it up, and how he just really needed to get it off his chest and all that."

"Well, what did you do?"

"Oh, I told him to shut up and give me a moment." The orb and tree both snickered a little. "I thought a little bit about-well, everything I suppose. About Popel and how little I knew of him, about my complete and utter lack of any sort of romantic experience at all, about my own life up to that point. And I realized that... I wanted to try. Popel was adventurous, having stumbled across my remote little river. He was patient, willing to listen when I went on tangents about my home. He was kind, never pushing subjects that I expressed distaste for. He was all of these things, and because of them, even though I knew he wouldn't be able to stay for long... I said yes."

"What changed?"

"Mmmm... not much, really. We stuck to the routine we already had. We just asked more personal questions, like whether the other had been in a romantic relationship before, ever been kissed, ever had romantic feelings for someone before each other." He made a sound that vaguely resembled a snort. "His answer to all of those was 'no' by the way. He had just as little experience as me."

"I thought you said you didn't have romantic feelings for him?"

"I said I didn't when he first asked. Over time, he... grew on me. Our meetings became less of something that just happened, and more of something I anticipated. I started enjoying the little things we did more and more, even just our usual talking. I... started to fall in love."

"There was also more... physical contact. Mostly, it was just hugging and leaning on each other, though... we did kiss a few times." Sein could swear the tree had suddenly heated up.

"Eventually, the peace conference ended, and Popel would soon have to leave. But... I didn't want him to go. And neither did he. Yet, we both knew he had to; there was no way we could have possibly gotten the other spirits of Meril to let him stay longer. At first, Popel suggested that I could come with him to Meril, but we realized that would never happen."

"Why not? You could just tell them you two were dating."

"Remember Sein, Popel was to be Meril's next Spirit Tree. His attention should have been on the well being of all of Meril's creatures, not a single foreigner. If the spirits of Meril learned of our relationship, they would only try to rip us apart."

"Oh... then, what did you do?"

"We had one last day to ourselves. The next day, Popel would have to leave at the break of dawn. That last day, since the peace conference was over, we could spend the whole day together. So... we did. And that day, I think I truly fell in love with Popel. When I was with friends, I felt comfortable in their presence. When I was with Popel, I _enjoyed_ being in his presence. For an hour or so of that day, we did quite literally nothing but lean against each other. Yet, that hour still remains as one of the best hours of my entire life, just because Popel was there."

"The next day, Popel left, and I never saw him again. Yet, even now, I think of him every day of my life." The tree sighed, and was quiet for a moment. "I want you to think, Sein. Really think about what I have told you, and just how much of it you see in how you feel about Ori." He then went quiet, leaving Sein with nothing but their thoughts.


	2. The first step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you just have to take a leap of faith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow! The story now has Ori in it!

It was a peaceful day in Nibel, as usual. Sein and Ori were sitting at the top of a hill in front of the Spirit Tree, looking down at a bunch of young spirits playing. The sun was bright, with only a couple of clouds in the sky. It was rather warm out, and there was a nice, light breeze. Overall, Sein thought it was a pretty good day.

"Hey Sein?"

They looked to their right, where Ori was sitting. "Yes, Ori?"

"Where do babies come from?"

Their brain screeched to an immediate halt. "Um... why do you ask?"

He scratched his head nervously. "Well, I was talking with Kuro about her kids and whatever since they're all she ever talks about, and she asked me if I knew where babies come from, which I'm apparently supposed to know?"

"Well, most creatures do know where babies come from by your age."

"Well, no one ever told me, so how was I supposed to know? Anyways, I said I didn't, and she told me I should ask the Spirit Tree, which is really dumb since _she's_ the one who asked me if I knew where babies come from in the first place."

"Alright... then why are you asking me! We're right in front of the Spirit Tree!"

"Because I _did_ ask the Spirit Tree, and he told me about where Spirit Guardians come from, and apparently I was a leaf at some point? But he also said that there's another way that parents get babies, and he told me to ask you about it! Which again, is really dumb, but it's even more dumb here since you don't even _have_ any kids, so I asked him how you would know, and he just said you would! So, do you know how babies are made?" There was no response. "...Sein?"

"...I'm going to kill both of them." Ori's eyes opened up wide. "Not literally! Just... they're being stupid and trying to tease me about something."

"About what?"

"...It's a secret."

"I can keep a secret! And I promise I won't tease you!"

They sighed, already tired of this conversation. "I... can't tell you." They thought for a moment longer. "The secret's about you."

His ears perked up. "It's about me? What do you know about me that I don't know about me?"

_That you're adorable and you've stolen my heart without even realizing it._ "It's not really important. Don't worry about." His ears flattened back down, and he pouted. "Also, no I don't know where babies come from." He groaned and flopped onto his back. "It doesn't really matter though, you don't _need_ to know where babies come from. You're great as you are." 

"Oh, thanks Sein! I think you're great too!" He smiled wide at them, and they had to actively try to keep their light from going haywire.

"Thank you Ori. Now... wanna do something?" Anything, really, so long as it meant they wouldn't have to worry about any more conversations like _where babies came from seriously why._

"Not really." He rolled over onto his stomach, and spun around so his head was closer to them. "I kinda just wanna... relax here."

Well now, today was just _full_ of unpleasant surprises. "But... wouldn't that be really boring?"

"Mmmm, not really. You're here, after all." Aaaand, there went their heart.

"I-wh-Ori!" He looked to them, confused at their apparent sudden inability to speak. "You can't just _say_ stuff like that!"

"Why not?" His face scrunched up, and he shook his head. "Actually, don't answer that question." He turned around, and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, mister Spirit Tree!"

_Oh no_

"Yes, Ori?" His voice rumbled down to them, and Sein was filled with dread of the coming conversation.

"You heard us talking, right? Why can't I say stuff like that?"

"I did hear you talking. And Sein is wrong, you can absolutely say things like that. They are just embarrassed."

"Whyyyy?"

"Don't tell him!" they squeaked. Ori immediately spun around to look at them. 

"Why not?" His face fell and his ears flattened again, "I just want to know why you don't like me complimenting you."

"Because-because-look, Ori. No, actually look at me." They floated up in front of his face, and he looked straight at them. "I just... look. You remember that secret I told you about earlier?" He nodded slowly. "It has to do with that, okay?"

His mood didn't improve at all, and he threw his hands in the air. "Well, maybe you should just tell me the secret!"

"I... cant."

"Why!" They didn't answer, their glow slightly dimming. He sighed and put his hands under them. "Look, Sein. If this one thing is going to make it so hard for me to just _be nice_ to you, then maybe we shouldn't hang out for a while, or at least until whatever the heck is going on gets cleared up."

What.

_No no no no no_

Ori had already retracted his hands, and was starting to turn toward Swallow's Nest. "Wait!" He stopped and turned to them at their shout, his ears flicking up. "Please, wait. Just... give me a couple minutes to think, please?" He narrowed his eyes.

After a few seconds he sat down and nodded. "Alright. Only a couple minutes."

They sighed. Crisis slightly stalled. "Great. I'll be right back." They shot up into the branches of the Spirit Tree, zooming around their perch. "What do I do!"

"I can not decide that for you, Sein," he rumbled. "What you do now, only you can choose."

"But-but-" their shaking slowed after a few seconds, starting to calm down. "...I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"That-that he's going to say no, and that we'll never be able to friends again!"

He hummed quietly. "So was Popel."

...Right. The story. "He was?"

"Of course he was. Popel was terrified I would reject him, and that he would never be able to look me in the face again. And yet, he knew that he didn't have forever. He knew he had to leave eventually. So despite his fear, he tried."

"I... but-"

"No more buts. Trust me on this Sein: If you don't at least try, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"I'm immortal."

_"Exactly."_ The tree went silent, and Sein was left with a little time to think. Now that they considered it... he was right. If they did ask, and Ori rejected them, they would regret it forever. If they didn't tell him, then they would also regret it forever. Action had a possibility of regret, inaction had a guarantee of regret. In the end, one option was clearly better than the other. They summoned up all the courage they had within them, pushed all of their fear to the very back of their mind, and left the Spirit Tree's branches.

They zipped back down to the hill, where Ori was still sitting patiently. As they approached, he stood up. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"

"...Yes." His face brightened considerably, and further courage suddenly flooded them. "But first: Ori, do you know what romance is?"

"Umm, vaguely?" He scratched the back of his head. "It's like... when someone _likes_ -likes someone else, and they do a lot of kissing and whatever, right?"

"...Well, there's a lot more to it than that, but you've got the basic idea."

"Alright, what does that have to do with the secret?"

They took a deep breath, and steeled their nerves. No going back. "The secret is that... I want to have that sort of relationship with you."

His ears twitched and froze, and his eyes widened. For a moment, there was no sound on the hilltop except for the quiet breeze and the spirits playing below. Ori eventually unfroze, and pointed at Sein, then back to himself. "You... want to... do that with me?"

"Yes, Ori. I like-like you, and want to do a lot of kissing and whatever with you." The spirit snorted, and started giggling. "I'm not joking."

"I-I know you're not joking." He took a couple of breaths, then sat down and patted his lap. They hesitantly floated downward, concerned that he hadn't answered yet. "Sure, I guess." Never mind.

"You're... sure?" He hummed and nodded. "Like, absolutely, definitely, not going to regret it sure?"

The spirit put his head in his hands, smiling at the orb in his lap. "Yep! I mean, I might as well try it, right?"

"Serious?"

"Absolutely." He wrapped them up in a hug, and set his head on top of them. "I already like you plenty. Might as well try something... more."

They hummed slightly, and just enjoyed the moment, letting their thoughts get lost in the wind and Ori's soft fur. "Ori?"

"Sein."

"Can I be honest about something with you?"

He looked down at them in confusion. "Of course, is something wrong?"

They hummed quietly. "No, not any more. I've just... been worrying about this for a really long time. About... how I felt about you. I... think I've had feelings for you for a while. Maybe even as early as when we were clearing the blindness." He rubbed their top, and they floated a little into his touch. "It's just that I only really recently accepted that I liked you. And these last few days, when I'd finally accepted it were just... terrifying."

"How so?"

"I was just so scared you were going to reject me. That, once you knew how I felt about you, you were going to hate me, and never want to be my friend again."

"Well, I wouldn't have. Even if I did reject you, I would still want to be your friend."

"And I realize that now. I was just... so nervous."

"And now you don't have to be." He hugged them a bit closer, and the two simply let themselves relax. It was a peaceful day, as usual. They were in the place Sein felt safest in, the weather was beautiful, and they were with the one they cared most about in the world. All in all, Sein thought it was a perfect day.

"Hey Sein?"

They looked up. "Yes, Ori?"

"What do we do first?"

They looked down to the young spirits below. "To be honest? I have no idea." Ori started giggling like mad, and they soon joined in.

The Spirit Tree looked down at the pair, warmth filling him. If he had a mouth, he would have been smiling. He may have been split apart from his love, oh so long ago... but, so long as those two were happy together, he would make sure no one took them from each other.

He hummed, a sudden thought entering his mind. "How in the world am I going to explain this to Naru..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And he didn't even learn where babies come from.

**Author's Note:**

> ...  
> BABY DON'T HURT ME DON'T HURT ME NO MORE Also if the tags don't seem quite right yet it's because I'm trying to figure out how to tag this without it being a disaster.


End file.
